Dass, 91, Thankful For Govt’s Help

A Ninety-one-year-old man of Malolo Transmitter Road is thankful to the Government after he received Homes-CARE assistance at the Nawaka Village Hall in Nadi.

Nirbhaynand Dass was among the hun­dreds of people that lodged their application yesterday said: “I want to thank the Government for their as­sistance and it will help me rebuild my life especially purchase some household items which were destroyed by the flood waters.

Permanent Secretary for Women, Children and Pov­erty Alleviation, Dr Josefa Koroivueta was also pre­sent at the hall to render advice to applicants.

Mr Dass lives with his only 55-year-old son who is a carpenter by profession.

“We have been staying in Malolo Transmit­ter road for the past 27 years and I served two years as the advisory counsellor.

“For the past few weeks after Tropical Josie hit us, it had been hard for me because our four-bedroom house was badly damaged by the floodwaters,” he added.

The Homes-CARE assistance is an initiative by the Government managed by the Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation to give affected and eligible households the resources to repair or restore their damaged or destroyed homes in the wake of tropical cyclone Josie and Keni this year.

Mr Dass also shared a light moment with Dr Koroivueta while he waited in line to be served by the social welfare officers.

“I’ve been waiting in line since 7am because I heard the crowd here is huge and it took me about 30 minutes bus ride to be here, even though I am 91 years I still have the strength to wait in a long line and the secret to my long life is that I don’t take alcohol, kava or smoke cigarettes,” he added.

70-year-old, Malelei Kurubua said he trav­elled all the way from the Nausori Highlands in Bukuya village to lodge his application at the Nawaka Village Hall.

“I left the village at around 3am; I got here at 4.30am. My house in the village was also damaged, including household items like mats, sleeping mattresses and utensils,” he added. Edited by Mohammed Zulfikar